One of the most persistent myths among younger aviation enthusiasts is that United Airlines operated a hub in Miami during the 1990’s. Yes it was a large gateway city in UA’s then-worldwide network but in fact United never had more than 40 daily flights on its own metal out of MIA (though did boast a number of international codeshare partners to help feed the operation) which actually means it had LESS flights daily on UA planes than Orlando did on average from 1991 to 1995.

Not only did American’s 300 or so daily flights from MIA dwarf United at the time, but Delta generally had between 55-70 daily flights (including Delta Express and Delta Connection) out of Fort Lauderdale in that era on its own metal, not including international codeshare partners.

I recently found a local Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood/West Palm Beach city timetable from 1998 – here were the flights at the time.

Nonstops from Miami (UA only):

Atlanta 1x Daily

Buenos Aires 1x Daily

Caracas 1x Daily

Chicago-O’Hare 5x Daily

Denver 3x Daily

Lima 1x Daily

Los Angeles 1x Daily

New York-LaGuardia 1x Daily

Newark 1x Daily

Orlando 1x Daily

Rio de Janeiro 1x Daily

San Francisco 1x Daily

Santiago de Chile 1x Daily

Sao Paulo 1x Daily

Washington-Dulles 1x Daily

Washington-National 1x Daily

Codeshare partners (Aero Mexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Varig)

Belem 1x Weekly 

Fortaleza 1x Weekly

Frankfurt 11x Weekly

Manaus 2x Weekly

Mexico City 1x Daily

Montreal-Dorval 1x Daily

Recife 2x Weekly

Rio de Janeiro 1x Daily

Sao Paulo 1x Daily

Toronto-Pearson 1x Daily

Nonstops from Fort Lauderdale (UA Only):

Chicago-O’Hare 3x Daily

Denver 1x Daily

Codeshare partner (Air Canada)

Montreal-Dorval 1x Daily

Toronto-Pearson 1x Daily

Nonstops from West Palm Beach (UA only):

Chicago-O’Hare 3x Daily

Codeshare partner (Air Canada)

Toronto-Pearson 1x Weekly